This is an exciting time to do work and research

The Role of People

Story of a scientist

Now what?

Software and tools allow us to turn data into information

People turn information into knowledge

By putting the data skills and the perspectives in the hands of people who have the questions, we allow them to follow their curiousity and capture their passion and expert knowledge.

Unleash the potential of data by empowering people

How do we scale data skills and literacy along with data production?

Researchers want these skills

It's never too early or late to start learning

Training in the Gaps: Active researchers and employees

Active researchers and employees are learning these skills "on the job"

Need to develop and deliver training that fits in their time and attention

Possibilities:

  • online self-guided tutorials
  • online self-guided short videos
  • workshops
  • short courses
  • one-on-one or small group consulting

Workshops

  • Short and impactful
  • Hands-on and interactive
  • Immediate feedback
  • Focused time
  • Shared learning

Software and Data Carpentry

  • Learning objectives: Best practices in software development and data analysis & management
  • Delivery approach: intensive, hands-on teaching strategies in 2-day workshops, informed by educational pedagogy
  • Delivery mechanism: collaboratively developed lessons available on-line for free use, instructors trained to teach
  • Assessment: assessment surveys for both assessing learning outcomes and improving content

Hands on intensive workshops

Instructors

Lessons

What do we teach?

Data Carpentry

  • Focused on data - teaches how to manage and analyze data in an effective and reproducible way.
  • Initial focus is on workshops for novices - there are no prerequisites, and no prior knowledge computational experience is assumed.
  • Domain specific by design – currently have lessons in ecology, in genomics developed with iPlant, in geospatial data developed with NEON, and on APIs with rOpenSci

Software Carpentry

  • Focused on better software development practices, for writing software or analysis scripts
  • Domain agnostic

Outcomes

  • Learner outcomes
  • Instructor outcomes
  • Community!

Learner Outcomes

Instructor outcomes

  • People learn new techincal skills
  • They have a community - no more 'lone bioinformatician'
  • People become better communicators
  • Gain value from giving back and empowering people with the skills they have learned are valuable

Community!

An active and engaged community of instructors and learners, both using and advocating for best practices in effective and reproducible research

How best to support, sustain and grow this community?

Summary

  • Active researchers and employees are very motivated, but need 'on the job' training
  • Training for active researchers needs to teach in the gaps
  • Different challenges & opportunities in the training process that potentially require different strategies for support and different groups to develop and deliver

What can you or your organization do?

  • Support training within your organization
  • Support training efforts for people before they get to your organization
  • Good documentation of software
  • Enabling 'power tools' for all

Acknowledgements

  • Over 900 volunteers worldwide that teach and develop lessons
  • Greg Wilson, who founded Software Carpentry
  • The Steering Committees of Software and Data Carpentry
  • Software and Data Carpentry staff: Jonah Duckles, Greg Wilson, Erin Becker, Maneesha Sane and Kari Jordan

Acknowledgements

  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
  • Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
  • National Science Foundation